Back-to-School Guide - Martha Stewart

[Pages:14]Back-to-School Guide



C 2005 MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA

..................................................................................... CONTENTS

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2 READY FOR SCHOOL CHECKLIST

Help kids get organized for the first day of class by showing them how to make their own reminder chart.

3 TIPS ABOUT SCHOOL LUNCHES

Whether your children prefer to "bring" or "buy," here's how to keep lunch appetizing and healthy.

5 CLIP-ART CRAFT: BROWN BAG LABELS

Personalizing paper lunch bags is easy: Simply print or copy our label designs on easy-to-find sticker paper.

8 PRINTABLE LUNCH CHART

Let your kids help plan the menu, then keep a calendar of what's for lunch this week. Download our handy chart.

1 1 FOLDER BOOK ORGANIZER

For a fun and functional multisubject organizer, tape several folders together and decorate. Learn how.

1 2 ADVICE FROM OUR EDITORS

Get helpful words of wisdom about choosing school clothes and starting kindergarten, from our popular column.



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..................................................................................... READY FOR SCHOOL CHECKLIST

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When kids are first learning how to get ready for school, it's easy for them to forget a few things. They'll be able to remember better if they draw a picture of themselves and write down what they need to do before they leave. Post it somewhere they're sure to see it, such as by the front door.



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..................................................................................... TIPS ABOUT SCHOOL LUNCHES

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BROWN-BAG LUNCHES

If you pack a lunch for your kids, here are some things you can do to get them interested in it and to get them the nutrition they need:

1. Start with the lunch box. Even small children have distinct preferences about what they want to carry; a child happy with her lunch box is one step closer to being happy with her lunch. Flexible, insulated versions are easy to clean and will conform to what's inside. Some lunch boxes have a mesh insert to hold an ice pack, which may be essential, depending on what you're serving. A worthy substitute is a frozen juice box, which melts just enough by lunchtime.

2. Pack a balanced meal. What to include? The goal, says Mark Corkins, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology at Riley's Children's Hospital at Indiana University in Indianapolis, and president of the Indiana Chapter of the Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, is to pack a protein, a grain, and a fruit or vegetable. Dessert should not be an everyday item, he says, and milk or a juice with no additives are the ideal drinks.

3. Think about presentation when selecting and preparing foods. Pickles, cherry tomatoes, and carrot and celery sticks have fun shapes, colors, and textures. You can make a sandwich more appealing by decorating the wrapping with a sticker or by cutting the sandwich with a cookie cutter. Prepackaged wholesome snacks such as fruit cups and yogurt are fun to eat, as is anything that crackles or crunches.

4. Get kids to participate. "Let your child take part in packing his lunch," suggests Mel Heyman, M.D., chief of gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of California in San Francisco. "If you keep lots of healthy food in the house," he says, "then just give him free rein."

5. Don't overpack. Too much food can be, well, too much. "There's this mind-set that children are supposed to clean their plates," says Corkins. "If they tend to eat half a sandwich, then just send half a sandwich. That way they won't feel the pressure to eat more than they need."

6. Find out what other parents are sending to school. The calamari salad that, for some reason, your 6-year-old happily eats at home might not have the same appeal when scrutinized by the critical mass of her kindergarten classmates. If peer pressure is a big issue, Elizabeth St. Clair, a mother in New York City, offers this ingenious solution: To please her daughter Isabelle, she asks the mother of one of Isabelle's close friends what she is sending and then tries to mimic it. "This cuts off the charge of `Maxine's mother sends better lunches than you do.' Instead, I hear, `Maxine and I were twins at lunch today.'"

7. Include a few surprises. Think of the lunch you pack as your child's one connection to home during the day. Let her find a new pencil, key chain, or a few stickers, something totally unexpected. Personal notes and inedible treats are big hits because they remind kids that parents are thinking of them during the school day. You can also include labels on food as your child is learning to read.



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..................................................................................... TIPS ABOUT SCHOOL LUNCHES

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CAFETERIA LUNCHES

The quality of cafeteria food varies greatly throughout the country--"and even within a single school district," says Mel Heyman. "Sometimes the people who make the food are not oriented to health, and then there's the challenge of serving so many kids so quickly." If you're not happy with the lunches that are served at your child's school, here are steps you can take:

1. Pack a lunch. The easiest solution, of course, is to send food from home instead. If a lunch from home is too mortifying a prospect for your child, however, peer pressure may render the nutritional trade-off worthless. Another option is to send along a nutritional complement to the meal. 2. Get involved. Urge the school to improve standards. Start by calling the principal. If you have no luck there, try the superintendent or the board of education members. Some schools have nutritionists in charge of the cafeteria whom you can contact. 3. Do damage control with what you serve at home. Many school lunch menus are sent home. "Some are even posted on the Internet," Corkins points out, "so you can monitor what your child is eating for lunch and plan dinner accordingly, thus avoiding pasta twice in a day." 4. Look at the big picture, suggests Corkins, "not meal by meal but day by day, even week by week." Habits are formed at home, and setting a good example is key. Keep in mind, however, that the best lunch in the world might not get eaten on a given day, so don't fret over each meal. Good nutrition occurs over time.

SEARCH OUR ONLINE

RECIPE FINDER

FOR LUNCH IDEAS AND RECIPES KIDS WILL LOVE

WWW.RECIPES



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..................................................................................... CLIP-ART CRAFT: BROWN BAG LABELS

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Make lunchtime even more appetizing by decorating kids' lunch bags with cheery stickers and labels. Some can serve a purpose--personalizing plain containers or sealing sacks shut--others are purely for fun. And they're quick and simple to make with a computer and printer, a scanner, or a color copier, plus easy-to-find supplies. Download or copy our designs, or create your own.

It's easy to accessorize paper lunch bags. Photocopy or print designs onto precut stickers, or print onto sheets of sticker paper and cut out. Affix to a lunch bag for a fun midday surprise. Use our rectangular labels to seal bags closed. Download them, print onto white sticker paper, and cut out labels. Or print directly onto white 2" x 4" mailing labels (Avery Label #8253). Use our round labels to add extra "flavor." Download them, print onto white sticker paper, and cut out labels. Or print directly onto 1 1/2 "round stickers (Avery Label #8293).

When Using with Avery Labels: Be sure to check your printer settings before printing onto precut stickers. The templates will work best if the printer is not set to shrink or expand the PDF to fit the page. The wording for this may vary slightly according to the type of printer you use.



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